Memorial Day means a lot of things to a lot of people, but for Ride 2 Recovery it means the 2015 edition of the Memorial Challenge. Sponsored for the 6th year in a row by UnitedHealthcare, the 5 day 360 mile ride will take injured veterans from the Vice President’s Residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. and lead them to Virginia Beach, with the ride ending with a USO sponsored VIP concert on the 29th.
For those unfamiliar with Ride 2 Recovery, the organization uses cycling as a way for injured veterans to find both mental and physical rehabilitation. Jonathan Dade mentions that “Cycling has been more therapeutic for me than seeing a psychologist. It’s a way of bringing you back to what you once were.” Along with organizing the rides and helping with training, Ride 2 Recovery also helps out with adaptive cycles that allow riders with some of the worst injuries to get on a bike and ride. Previously at Interbike we had a chance to check out Timothy Brown’s full suspension hand cycle (above), which kept the triple amputee rolling.
On Monday’s ride, 200 veterans will set off, but over the years Ride 2 Recovery has helped over 10,000 Vets restore hope and their sense of purpose. Ride 2 Recovery welcomes all of the communities along the route to come out and show their support as the riders make their way to Virginia Beach…
From Ride 2 Recovery:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 19, 2015) – More than 200 injured veterans and their supporters will set off Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, on the UnitedHealthcare Ride 2 Recovery Memorial Challenge, a five-day, 360-mile rehabilitative ride from Washington, D.C. to Virginia Beach.
The Memorial Challenge will depart from the Vice President’s Residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. and travel through historical roads where our riders will live American history. Along the way, they will pass the famous civil war battlefields of Manassas, Fredericksburg, Richmond and Colonial Williamsburg. The ride ends in Virginia Beach with a USO sponsored VIP concert experience and community event on May 29.
This is the sixth year that UnitedHealthcare will serve as Ride 2 Recovery’s presenting sponsor, providing financial, in-kind and volunteer support to assist in the rehabilitation of America’s injured veterans. UnitedHealthcare is the presenting sponsor of six Ride 2 Recovery cycling challenges scheduled across the United States and in Germany.
Veterans like Jonathan Dade consider Ride 2 Recovery a life saver. “A lot of my physical wounds had healed, but emotionally I was struggling,” said Dade. He was out of the Navy for two years when a friend recommended in 2011 that he try cycling in the Memorial Challenge in Washington, D.C. He completed a 50-mile ride that first time and rode the full challenge the following year. Now he’s a regular cyclist. “Cycling has been more therapeutic for me than seeing a psychologist,” he said. “It’s a way of bringing you back to what you once were.”
The riders share many common bonds as veterans, and some say the level of catharsis offered by the Ride 2 Recovery Challenges is unparalleled.
“The UnitedHealthcare Challenge Series is all about the mental and physical challenge of getting your life back by restoring hope and purpose,” said John Wordin, president and founder, Ride 2 Recovery. “There are veterans that come to these rides to help themselves and help each other. There is no other program like this that combines the hard work and the reward of completing a goal you set for yourself that you were not sure you could accomplish. For these men and women, cycling becomes a life-changing addition to their physical and mental rehabilitation.”
About Ride 2 Recovery
Ride 2 Recovery is a groundbreaking Veterans program that restores hope and purpose, providing a way FOR life with Vets helping Vets. Their participation provides hope, renewed life and a sense of camaraderie. The organization provides impactful and life-changing experiences through cycling that have proven to improve the mental and physical health and wellness of our veterans.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 45 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
